Improvement in locks



' 'UNITED STATES PATENT Ottica.

RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, OF SING SING, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,

l C. WALSH, AND J. O. NOBLES. f

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent- No. 40,077, dated September 22, 1863.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, of Sing Sing, in the County of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Lock,Knob-Oatch,and Night-Latch; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction 4and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a perspective view of the lock, Sac. Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinal section ofthe same. Fig. 3 represents a detached part of a portion of the interior of the lock not distinctly7 seen in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents the key of the lock, knobcatch, and night-latch. Figf represents the knob and its shank. Fig. 6 represents the tumblers detached from the case.

Similar letters of reference, where they oc cur in the separate figures, denote like parts in all cases.

The lock is represented as a niortise-lock, in which A is the case, B the face-plate, and C the bolt, which, for the purpose of lock, catch, and night-latch, is made with a bevel, D, so as to run back into the case when drawn against the keeper.

The tumblers E are shown separately at Fig. 6, and when piled up in the lock are kept in their vertical movements by guide-pins a a a, permanently set in the lock-case. The tumblers E have six openings or slotsin them viz., b c d ef g-of which b are simply guideslots which allow the tumblers to move past the guide-pin a.. The others, however, must all be arranged or disarranged, as circumstances may require in locking, unlocking, or

shooting the bolt by the key or by the knob.

F is a. cam-wheel having a hub, lz, that projects through the side plate of the case, and through this hub and wheel are cut the openings for the key G, which has bits l 2 3 4 5 on opposite sides oi' the shank thoreof, one set of bits projecting farther from the shank than the other set. Upon the inside of this cam-wheel F, or the side opposite to that from the hub h, there is a projecting piece, t, which is slotted, so as to allow the long bits of the key to pass through, while a long slot, j, in the key-bits admits the solid or uncut portion of this projecting piece i. There is also upon this canrwheel F an arm, k, which has a projecting stud or pin, Z, in it, and a second arm, m, the objects and purposes of which will be presently explained.

The bolt c is guided in its movements by the pins a' a. It has a shoulder, a, against which the arm m on the cam-wheel F takes under circumstances, as also a shoulder, o, against which the stud or pin l in the arm It takes under certain other circumstances. There is also a projecting piece, p, on the rear end of the bolt, against which the arm H (that is upon the hub I, through which the shank J of the knob K passes) takes, to move back the bolt when simply used as a knob-bolt or catch, and the bolt when not otherwise controlled is forced out of the lock by a spring, w, behind it.

The shank J ofthe knob K is divided at or near its center, as at r, the portion s being fast to and turning with the knob, while the portion t is loose thereon, so that while the knob K and portion s would operate the hub I and arm H, and consequently the bolt C,

yet a knob on the other end of the shank would not do so. as it would only turn the part tupon the interior, which is really the shank, the outer portion being only a loose sleeve turning` upon the inner portion.

The bolt c is represented in Fig. 2 as being thrown out to its full extent and locked out by its stud u, which bears against a solid portion ofthe tumblers E, and in this position it is a lock to the door, and can only be unlocked by the key G, which is inserted in the key-slot, and by the turning of which the tuniblers are so arranged as that the slots .e shall all come in line so that the pin Z on the arm k may traverse them, and so that also the openings f may all come in line, that the stud u on the bolt may pass through them. When the slots or openings are thus arranged by the key-bits, the canrwheel F is turned by the key, and its arm 7c takes against the rear shoulder, o, on the bolt, and moves theV bolt back until its stud passes through the openingsfand into the openings g, and the tumblers, being now released, they disarrange themselves by means of their spring c, In this position the lock becomes a knob-catch or night-latch, as follows: By means of the knob and its shank on the inside of the door the hub I and arm Il can be operated to dra-W back the bolt, the bolt being shot out again by its spring w whenever it is released by letting go the knob 5 or the door may be pushed to, and the bevel on the bolt coming against the keeper pushes it into the lock until it has passed the bevel of the keeper, when i s spring shoots it out again into the keeper. By inserting the key on the other side of the door, and turning it so that its bits shall arrange the openings c in line for the pin l on the arm 7c to enter, and then continuing to turn the key, the arm m on the cam-wheel F t=kes against the shoulder n of the bolt C, and moves back the bolt, and when the bolt is released by the removal ofthe key the tumblers disarran ge themselves, and the lock, ceasing to be a night-latch, becomes again a knobcatch bolt. 'lhe key can only beinserted and Withdrawn when the cam -Wheel F is in a certain position, and to keep it in that position the arm m is caught by a spring-latch, fw, when the key is about to be Withdrawn, and this latch will hold the Wheel in that position until the key is inserted and turned, which causes the arm to push back t-he latch and release itself.

Although I have described a peculiar kind of knob-shank and a knob upon one end only, yet I do not @Online my inventionto such solely, as an ordinary shank With a knob on both sides of the door may be used.

Having thus fully described the construction and opera-tion of my combined lock, knobcatch, and night-latch, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

In combination with a double-hired key, G, the cam'wheelF, tumblers E, and bolt G, constructed and operating together in the manner and for the purpose herein described and represented.

RANDOLPH s. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

S. M. McCoRD, J. MALCOLM SMITH. 

